The first mountaineer to climb highest peak Mount Everest, Edmund Hillary, once said, “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” Youngest Maharashtrian to climb Mount Everest at the age of 21 in the year 2013, Priyanka Mangesh Mohite, is conquering her fears, her ambitions, and has scaled yet another mountain successfully.

The Satara-based mountaineer successfully climbed Mount Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), on Wednesday. Confirming the news was Umesh Zirpe of Giripremi, the Pune-based mountaineering outfit, who was quoted by Hindustan Times, “I received her call at around 2pm when they were climbing down. She is on her way to base camp.”

On April 23, Mohite left Satara and started her expedition on April 25. She did her acclimatisation at camps one and two (6,510m) on May 6 and was waiting for the window for her summit attempt. On May 16, she got the opportunity and completed the climb.

But this wasn’t the mountaineer’s first attempt. After scaling Mt. Everest, Mohite was prepared to climb Mt. Lhotse in the year 2015. Her expedition team had attempted but had to abort the plan after the devastating and disastrous earthquake that shook the land of Nepal in April the same year.

Looking at the adverse weather conditions, the Indian Army finally asked the team to cancel the expedition. Sad but determined, Mohite packed her bags and strengthened her soul to conquer another peak.

On September 29, 2016, Mohite climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in African sub-continent. Two years later, Mohite has fulfilled her dream from 2015 and climbed Mt. Lhotse. “Mt Lhotse is quite difficult and challenging. In the last section of the peak, it becomes very tough. We congratulate the young and brave girl for her success,” said Umesh Zirpe.